The Snow Queen
by Joan D. Vinge
science fiction
copyright 1980
read in September 2016
rated 9/10: really, really good
This book has been republished, thirty years after it was first published. Has it dated? Not at all.
Okay, the heroine is called Moon and her boyfriend is Sparky. (Shades of American Vacation.) Yet the ideas are fresh, new, well presented. And very old.
Apparently, the plot is based on The Snow Queen fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. So I checked the fairytale in Wikipedia. And yes, I can see the similarity: relatively modern science fiction based on a very old fairytale. And it is an excellent update.
As I start reading I wonder, Is this science fiction -- or fantasy? The style is fantasy. Or, perhaps, hippie mysticism. The writing is almost poetic in style. The story which it describes is science fiction. Good science fiction. The sort which offers a story which is relevant to today but set in a believeable future.
The theme is... no, the themes are, very much of the 1980s: scientific complexity versus self-sufficient simplicity; equality of male and female, and of alien. (It is, after all, science fiction.) There are messages but they are not strident. The messages are not all one-sided.
The characters are likeable, with enough depth to be realistic. There are challenges, though there is nothing really heart-stopping. Some sad stories but no emphasis on the nastiness. Though that may be a modern perception. Perhaps I see the nastiness as simply less-than-the-standard suffering.
Then there's the heroine... She is soooo sweet! Which is a direct take from the original fairytale. I still like her :-)
This could be a tale of revenge. Yet it is not. Yes, the evil villain is destroyed -- after we are shown enough to allow us sympathy for her actions. The villain is about to meet her fully justified end -- and the heroine lets the villain know that all is not lost...
All the villain's plans are not lost, that is. Sure, the heroine has firmly quashed the villain. Yet the villain began with good intentions. Now her evil has been ended. Yet the heroine allows the villain to know -- before the fatal end -- that the original good intentions are still on track. And that, is very nice.
Perhaps I should write a bit about the two main themes...
Science versus simple self-sufficiency. The simple world is very pleasant. The science world is full of evil but it is not, in itself, evil. I'm wondering is the sequel will build a world of science without the evil?
A second theme is, gender equality. Some older books take "gender equality" to mean, "women are better than men". More modern movies take gender equality to mean, women kicking butt even harder that the men. Snow Queen has a heroine who is feminine within the standards of her (1980s) time. And who is strong enough to drive the story.
The heroine is as good as any man. In her own way.
Oh, and the villain is also a woman. She uses sex as one means to power. She is also very intelligent. A strong role model who has chosen evil means by which to follow her good intentions.
I guess that the heroine will continue those good intentions -- without the evil means !
All will be revealed. If I can find a republication of the sequel.
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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Listen to the sermon before eating the missionary" … per Ginger Meggs
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